A Night Without Stars
by Nocturnal Blue
Summary: Jeice looks at his decisions in life a little more carefully to try to change his life for the better,but its a winding and twisted path, with many dead ends and broken dreams.
1. Chapter 1

I do not own dragon ball z. I own only what I myself have created.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?!" ginyu screeched. He ran over to Jeice and pushed him out of the way. "You never touch this unless I tell you to!" he snarled. Jeice blinked a few times and said,"But, cap'n….Zarbon…"

"Zarbon is NOT YOUR LEADER! I am the ONLY one other than Freeza YOU take orders from! Got it?!" Ginyu added a couple of slaps for good measure and sent Jeice away before he really hurt the kid.

Jeice walked out with a Bruised jaw and a hurt ego. Ever since they took that stupid Dragon Ball with them The Captian hasn't been in a very pleasant mood. 'He guards that stupid thing like it was his own life…' Jeice thought to himself as he went to his room.'Actually…I guess it is a bit like his own life…I mean…freeza'd kill 'im over the darned thing…whatever 't is…….looks pretty useless to me…'

He opened his door once he reached his room and locked it behind him. He really needed some alone time…and some quite. He walked over to his bed and flopped down with a heavy sigh. He stared at the ceiling for a second or two and decided he should probably get some sleep. After all, he and Burter had spent three days looking for the dragon ball. Speaking of which, Burter should be in his room too. He had been in there ever since they got back.

Jeice rolled over and got up. He decided to visit his old pal, Burter. Burters room was only a few paces away from Jeices, so it wasn't much of a walk. Jeice knocked on the door and heard a raspy voice from the other side. "Mmmmgmhp….What?! whos there?! Guildo, if its you again im going to tear you to shreads! You little punk!" the door slid open and Burter had dark purple rings under his eyes. Clearly he was tired. And pissed.

"Oh…Jeice…it you…I thought it was Guildo again…he sbeen knocking on my door and running off just to piss me off…anyway…this better be important. Im trying to get some beauty sleep!" he obviously needed it…and bad. Jeice was equally tired, if not more, and was ready to slump on the floor and snooze. He looked at his tall blue friend and asked if he could come in. Burter rolled his eyes and moved aside so jeice could enter.

Burter slammed the door right jeice got inside. The whoosh of air it created sent Jeice's hair up in a frizz. He quickly reached up and smoothed it again before it tangled. That mane of hair was so hard to brush. Sometimes, he didn't think it was worth it. "You better make whatever you've got to say quick before I pass out. I havent slept in days." Burter mumbled, almost inaudiably as he rubbed his eyes and sat down on the big black leather couch in th "frontroom" of the apartment.

Jeice stood in the doorway still and blinked to keep the sleep out of his eyes. " I wanted to ask you if you've noticed anything different about the cap'n…"

Burter looked at him, his eyes barely open." Not really. Im going to bed, if that's all. Your welcome to bunk on the couch, but if you leave, lock my door behind you. And punch Guildo if you see him for me, will ya?" he plopped on his bed face down and said 'Good-night' to Jeice, but it was muffled by a pillow. Jeice frowned and left. He locked the door like Burted asked. He3 didn't see guildo, so went back to his own room, where his bed and sweet, sweet sleep was calling for him. He sighed and wriggled under his covers.

He was in a light sleep when he heard someone screaming loudly. It sounded like they were screaming in his ear. He shot up and looked around. Nobody was there, but the yelling continued. He recognized the voice soon enough. It was Lord Freeza in the front of the ship, 100 yards away. And he didn't sound to happy.

A.N it will get better, so please dont give up on me yet!!!


	2. And so it begins

I don't Own DBZ or any of its characters.

Oh God.

Why was Freeza even on their ship? Wasn't he supposed to be looking for those damned dragonballs? And why the hell was he screaming so loud? Jiece had only just began to sleep for the first time in days and already he had been woken up. The yells and threats got louder and clearer so Jeice decided to get up and see what all the racket was about.

Half asleep, Jeice wandered to the Front of the ship and stopped short of the control room door. "Ginyu, im only going to tell you this once. So open your ears and pay close attention. I want those other dragonballs found. And I want them found now! Do you understand me?! I don't know how I can make myself any clearer!" Freeza paced back and forth in front of Captian Ginyu, who was standing stock still and not even blinking, and waved his tail back and forth.

Jeice tried to peek around the corner to see how pissed freeza looked, but just then Guildo walked by. "what are you doing Jeice? Spying on Lord Freeza I suppose? Hmph." He said in a slobbery voice. He Glanced inside the room where ginyu and freeza were, and walked in.

Freeza gave him an irritated glance. He hated to be innterupted when he was chewing someone out. "What do you want that's so important you have to innterupt me?" he spat. Guildo swallowed hard."I…just came to tell you….that…I was walking by and i…er…I caught Jeice spying in on you, my lord." He cleared his throat and Freeza smiled. "Oh? Well then. Where is he now? Tell him to come here."

Guildo slipped out of the room as soon as Freeza finished his command. But Jeice had already heard and was shaking. Guildo had a smirk on his face as he told Jeice. He smiled as he moved aside for Jeice to go in. Jeice tried to swallow but his mouth was so dry his tounge stuck to the roof of his mouth. As he entered, he could see Freeza waiting for him, and Ginyus worried look.

"So….Jeice…..you think you can spy on me, do you? Well, come here boy, I want to show you something." Jeice slowly walked to freeza. He tried to read his face, but got nothing. As he came to a stop in front of freeza, his face changed to a seriously pissed off look. " ILL TEACH YOU TO KEEP YOUR NOSE TO YOURSELF!!!"

And with that, he swung a punishing blow to Jeices face. He hit the floor and couldent move. The pain was unbeliveable. He reached a hand to his mouth and discovered a heavy flow of scarlet. Freeza kicked him in the stomach that rolled him across the floor. Jeice was folded over,crying. His sobs were drowned out by the sound of his skull cracking on the wall as freeza threw him across the room. While all this was going on, Guildo Racoom and Burter were watching on the side of the door. But Freezas attention was so set on teaching Jeice a lesson that he didn't take any notice.

When freeza was done, he simply sat in his hovering chair, wiping the blood off his hands. Jeice lay motionless in a corner. "Well. I certianly hope you have learned something today. Ginyu, I would have thought that you would teach your men some respect for me, but apparently, I was mistaken. Please scrape up your idiot and leave. I will be expecting you to show up tomorrow evening at my ship. Formal attire please. And tell young Jeice…if he wants to live to be another year older…..he had better learn some manners toward me."

With that, he left the room and headed to the ships exit. Luckily, the watching eyes of the rest of the Ginyu Force had dissapered before freeza even turned to the door of the control room. They learned a lesson from Jeices undeserving punishment.

After he was sure freeza was gone, Ginyu walked over to jeice. "you FOOL! How could you emmbarass me in front of Lord Freeza like that?! Get your Worthless carcass up and get to you room now. Then he turned and left. Jeice lay alone in the room, barely concious. It took him 3 tries to stand up. Then it took him half hour to walk back to his room that was only a few doors away. When he got to his room he didn't clean off all the blood that was in his hair, and on his clothes. He just stripped and layed down on his bed.

He began to study his dark orange skin plastered with his drying blood when he began to make a plan. He was going to escape this life and Freezas cruel grasp. He was going to leave the Ginyu force. But he couldent tell anyone. Not even his best pal Burter if he was going to get away with it. He was already alone, so why should he change that?


	3. Time is slipping

I don't own Dragon Ball Z…..

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After a while, Jeice fell into an almost coma-like sleep. He tossed and turned, and let out a groan every now and again. He dreamed he was getting beaten again. Only this time, it was by Ginyu and the rest of his force. He was crying out for them to stop, but that only made them laugh and beat harder.

Suddenly, they fused together, and then Freeza was standing over him. The tyrant laughed and resumed beating him, but this time, he was using his energy blasts.

Jeice woke up in a cold sweat, screaming. He was alone, and the only Ginyu that wasn't in the same hall as the rest of his team, which meant that nobody could hear him. He looked around the small room and noticed that the clock on the wall said it was about 2 a.m Earth time.

Jeice tried to go back to sleep, but the horrible dream he had just had made it impossible. He could still feel his Masters cold hands connecting with his warm flesh. He shuddered, and felt suddenly cold. He decided to take a shower to pass the time, and to also wash the blood he neglected to clean, off.

Jeice peeled away the sheets, and slowly tried to get up. His whole body ached, and he almost cried when he put weight on his left leg. He limped to the bathroom, turned the light on and shut the door. He closed the lid to the toilet and sat down, examining his wounds.

His skin was dark blue where he had bruised, and the numerous lacerations were crusted with dry blood. He was a mess. His hair was tangled and his jaw was swollen. His body looked like he had been through a lawnmower, it was so cut up. The young soldier began to silently weep as he turned the shower on.

He tried to take off his underwear, the only piece of clothing he hadn't taken off earlier, but they were stuck to him from dry blood from his back and legs. He sighed and just got in, hoping that the hot water would loosen them of the dark red 'glue'.

Soon enough, he got his drawers off with ease. He started working on smoothing the knots out of his hair so he could wash it. Then he washed his body while he let the conditioner sit. Jeice stood staring at the red water swirl down the drain. He had never seen this much blood come off during a shower. Not even when he was on the planet Knarr for 8 days, struggling to live against the freakishly strong inhabitants.

He stayed in the shower until the water ran clear. He got out, and didn't even bother to dry off or put on clean cloths. He walked out of the bathroom and looked at his little dark room. Sighing, he looked at the clock. It was 4:23 a.m…..Jeice decided to put on some clean cloths and try to get some sleep again, but he kept thinking of the dream.

He got up and looked out the window. The sky was turning from black to light purple. The sun was coming up. It was beautiful. For a moment, he forgot about his pain and just enjoyed the scene. It was rare he had time to stop and enjoy natural beauty. He began to imagine that he was free, and far, far away from Freeza. Somewhere where he could never be found. Somewhere where he could just LIVE….

He was snapped back to reality by a heavy knocking at his door. Racoom's voice could be heard on the other side talking. Not to Jeice, but to someone else.

"I know….did you see how pissed Freeza was? I'm just glad that it wasn't me. Poor kid….you know how weak he is. Physically and mentally. I don't think he's military material…"

Jeice opened the door to see a stunned Racoom and Burter holding a suit. "Lord Freeza said we have to be in formal cloths….and every Ginyu has to be there." Burter handed Jeice the dark green suit and Racoom nodded. Then he left, leaving just Jeice and Burter. "Jeice….I wish I could have helped you...I know that damned Guldo is a liar. He just wants to get you kicked out of the Ginyu Force because you took his position. If it had been anyone else fighting with you, I would have been at your side….but it was Freeza…and I don't want to die. You understand, don't you?"

Jeice was staring at the suit. He was silent for a few moments before Burter added," you might want to apologize to Freeza and the Captain before you go anywhere. If their both in a bad mood….God help us." He waited for Jeice to reply, but he didn't.

Jeice turned and went back to his room, locking the door behind him. How was he going to make it through this day? He decided to go see Ginyu first. Maybe Burter was right. Maybe apologizing to his leader would ease the tension between them, at least for the dinner at Freeza's.

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please reveiw...i like to hear from everybody!...i mean, especially after it took me so long to get a new chapter up...


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